My eyes snapped open with a gasp, grasping my chest
'A dream?'
I wiped my face just to be sure only for my hand to come back sticky and still wet with blood, black ink-like liquid staining my sleeve,
No.
Still not a dream.
[Decision Subway]
"What the hell..?"
"A subway station?"
I tried to look around at the batch of new employees around me,
Nothing useful will come from being helpless..
Almost everyone seemed to be in the same suit, which was something I'd already acknowledged prior,
But it was still worth noting since I didn't recognize a few people from the auditorium,
I most likely just didn't see them amidst all of the chaos, so it didn't hurt to try and figure out what's going on,
They seemed calm, calmer than calm, like they knew what was going on,
They probably applied for this job unlike most of the people present,
"H..hey.. does.. this mean we're being let go..?"
"Maybe..?"
But despite it all, there were a lot more people in the subway than there were in the auditorium so it was clear that we weren't the only ones having to go through this Field Test
I could feel my legs shake when I walked, was it from being unable to control my body before? Or am I just scared?
It's not as though I was someone who was a coward,
Or somebody who couldn't handle horror
In fact, I was the opposite,
I loved horror, it had been my favorite thing for years back when I had to quit school for.. unforeseeable reasons.
No, Horror didn't bother me,
That's not why I'm scared
Pain
Pain is what I'm scared of,
Being in a sort of Horror scenario would probably seem like my lifelong dream for a horror enthusiast like me,
But there's one key factor,
Horror is almost always followed by brutal, gory, and painful deaths.
I know I was thinking about dying earlier today but I didn't mean it like this, i'd like my death to be clean and pain-free, thanks
I'd rather not be brutally ripped apart by a train or tortured and murdered by a vengeful spirit!
I hate pain,
I hate being in pain,
I try to avoid that feeling as much as possible
"Excuse me, you all seem quite hysterical, so we would like to take this time to reassure you all." A sturdy man with short cut hair, a head or so taller than the average height stepped forward towards us, another man and woman accompanying him,
"Yes! Please tell us what's going on."
"Why can't we go out! Why were people dying..!"
"Please, calm down. We're the Recon Team, most capable recruits tend to pass the Field test with relative ease, we're just here to make sure the number of Recruits alive doesn't fall to zero."
?
Weird,
A ruthless company that popped people's heads like ripe grapes for screaming suddenly cares if all of them died?
—They're lying.
A low, monotonous whisper reverberated in my ear, making me flinch, it reminded me of the girl from the convenience store for all the wrong reasons,
It didn't even sound like her, it was just..
Eery..
And creepy, like it was made from the sense of foreboding dread I couldn't shake off,
"The stairwells to the Subway are blocked off so you can't leave, and there are usually trains on the tracks so it's not advisable for you to be on them unless you're on the 'right' train"
The man who wore thinly brimmed glasses explained as the woman in blue stepped forward with a ginger smile,
"What we mean, is that we'd like you all to join us, we have the escape manual so that you'll be able to survive the field test"
Besides everything else at this point, I didn't need a foreboding voice to tell me these people were lying, I didn't believe them, their scheme was sloppy, effortless at best,
The host in the auditorium seemed to do nothing but despise 'freeloaders', and yet these people claimed to have been given a manual to escape with zero casualties.
These people were betting on our desperation for survival, them being absolute idiots, or they were trying to do something even more twisted.
Hopefully, at most, they'd probably be used as a meat shield for them to run away, or at worst used as a sacrifice so they could escape without anyone from their group dying.
Even if they ended up surviving this thing who's to say The Company was going to be fine with them 'cheating' on the Field test?
"A..are you sure?"
"Yes..? Thank you.. please save us!..."
"Don't be nervous, we promise we're not scary people"
The woman smiled kindly
[Do~Do~Doo~!]
A Loudspeaker chimed, signaling the beginning of an announcement,
[Ahem, Ahem, We thank the patrons for using our Dreamful Transpo today... Our trains have been delayed.]
A woman's voice reflected from the speaker
[Please wait for further announcements in order to board the correct train and end up at your desired destination.]
"Ah, it's started, that's good"
The thin man murmured, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose,
"Wh..what started..? You people still haven't told us what the hell is going on here!"
"The Field test of course, you don't have to worry~ we'll guide all of you to the ending safely"
She reassured us with a kind and gentle smile, much to their relief, people finally started to calm down
"I.. see…"
"Does that mean we can leave if we survive this..?"
Before any of them could answer the announcements started again,
[Ahem, ahem, This Train is heading to Radiant, Radiant Station.]
[All passengers heading to Radiant Station, please board this train]
"Please cooperate with us so that we can all make it back safely~" the woman smiled politely
"Radiant.. Station? What does that mean.."
"Radiant...?"
[The train is stopping, please wait until it completely stops before attempting to enter.]
[The doors are opening, please wait until they completely open before attempting to enter]
[The doors are open. Please Enter the Train for Radiant Station]
"This is so odd.."
"Why would a company do something like this to trainees..?"
[The train will depart again in 90 seconds. Once set off, this train will never return, and all passengers will have permanently missed their stop.]
"Ah! That means we should go doesn't it..?"
"Shouldn't we get on this train? The announcements said that the train will never return once it's left!"
No.. while the sentiment was understandable, it's just a play on words with a time limit that makes you rush into a decision..
It's just a 50/50 chance that it may or may not be a life-ending choice.
Where does Radiant Station even lead to?
The woman in blue shook her head, "No, the manual says to avoid trains going to positive stations since those are just traps"
The people started getting uneasy once more, murmuring amongst each other,
Oddly.. it felt like most of them already knew each other, is this another thing cultivated by whoever dragged me here, or am I just the odd one out again?
"Then.. can't you just tell us which train is safe to get on..? Instead of doing it like this?"
The sturdy man sighed annoyed, making the few people at the front flinch, "Why should we?"
That guy obviously had a temper, that's probably why the other two were speaking for the most part
"Even if we wanted to we can't. This field test has changed every time so the manual can only be used as a guideline for this" the thin man took over, stepping a bit closer with an air of confidence,
which only fell flat against the concern and anxiety of the people as one person raised their hand amidst the crowd
"Hey, the name's Jang Hye, you people keep going on and on about this guide manual, how do we know you're not lying about having such a thing?"
The tanned woman called out bluntly
"Well, Miss Jang Hye—"
[The doors are closing, please do not attempt to enter]
[The doors are closed. The train is departing, this train will not return, if another Train claims to be heading to Radiant Station, do not board that Train.]
Ah, the train left, that felt fast, then again 90 seconds is only 90 seconds